We are all aware of the industry, which is comprised of magicians and their magic tricks. Magic is an age-old art, which can be traced back to time immemorial. In the New Webster's Dictionary, magic is defined as: (“The feigned art of influencing nature or events by occult means; sorcery; charm.”) A magician is defined as: (“one skilled in magic; a conjurer.”)
One of the most famous magicians of the past century was Harry Houdini. He was famous for his ability to escape from almost any situation. In fact he received a U.S. patent in 1921, U.S. Pat. No. 1,370,316, for a special diving suit. From this suit he was able to escape while handcuffed, chained and submerged in water. There is a vast array of special equipment, which enables the magician to perform his magic tricks. These tricks consist of normal everyday items that have been modified in a hidden way not visible to the human eye, in order to give the impression or illusion to the viewer, that magic, i.e. a process that defies and goes against the laws of nature, is taking place. Another term for this magical process is “sleight of hand”. In the Webster's Dictionary, “sleight of hand” is defined as: “artful trick, skill of hand.” In other words, we know that there really isn't any “magic” taking place, but we are not able to see how the magician seemingly manipulated the laws of nature. We are left with the mystery of the illusion.
The present invention relates to a compass that instead of being bound by the laws of physics to point only North, can be manufactured in a specific manner to give the illusion that it defies the laws of nature, and can “magically” point in any “other” direction. These “other” directions are for the purpose of the illusion, and not necessarily to specify a specific geographic location. This invention is useful for the entertainment industry that is comprised of magicians, and magic trick manufacturers.
In its other embodiments, my invention will also provide an important usage as a unique promotional aid for companies, a new item for the industries of souvenir and greeting card manufacturers, and a very special device for the worshippers of those religions who need to face in a specific geographic direction when praying. As will be explained further on, there is no limitation to the usefulness of this device due to its novelty.
This invention in its most preferred embodiment has usefulness to the magician trade to portray the art of magic by means of the “slight of hand” techniques practiced by professional magicians. In an example of this technique, the magician would display a generic compass of known type, and show how it follows the laws of physics by always re-aligning itself with the magnetic north pole. During this display, the magician would use the “slight of hand” technique and substitute the north-pointing compass with my magic compass, which will appear identical to the first compass in size and design. He would then display how the compass is no longer bound by the laws of physics and is now pointing in another direction, yet continuing to function like a normal compass. The magician has now proven that he has manipulated the laws of nature.
Another purpose of my invention is to supply a very unique item, which due to its novelty and mystery, will be purchased by companies, and organizations for promotional usages. All companies are in need of promotional gadgets that will bring attention to their company and their products or services. The most well known item in usage today as a promotional tool is the ink pen. Pens that are stamped with the company's name and logo are distributed freely to its customers and business affiliates. Unfortunately, a pen has no novelty, and when the ink is used up, the pen is discarded along with the company's logo. My invention will supply the most original and unique promotional item for these companies and corporations. For example, the South Trust Bank will wish to give to its patrons, a miniature “South Trust Bank Compass” which always points South, i.e. the direction which is the name of the Bank. Such a compass, containing the Bank's emblem embossed on its face, and seemingly defying the laws of nature by always pointing South, shows that the South Trust Bank gives service that is beyond the level of nature. This invention, through its combination of attributes, i.e., a) a compass—being a useful instrument, b) its novelty—by seemingly defying the laws of nature and pointing in the direction of the bank, and by c) attaching it to a key chain, which will enable it to be carried everywhere by the patron, will make my invention the most effective promotional device. Also, unlike a pen, it will never be “used up” and discarded. Another example would be for the Southern Comfort Co. to attach a miniature Southern Comfort Compass on the bottle cap of its whiskey thereby portraying that just as their product surpasses nature in its quality, and taste, they have a very special compass that is compelled to follow suit by pointing South, which is the global direction that is related to the name of their company. In both of the above examples, the direction South is not indicative of a geographic destination, but only to the name of the company as is relevant in advertising.
Another usage for this magic compass is as a novelty item to be introduced to the Greeting Card Industry for a new line of greeting cards. For example, a very small inexpensive model of a compass pointing South would be embedded into the card with the following poem: “When thinking of you, I bought a compass . . . to point me in the right direction, but wonders of wonders the laws of mother nature are broken, the cause must have been my affection.” Here we demonstrate how one's affection is so strong that even his compass is affected and acts in a way that is beyond nature. Another example for the Greeting Card Industry would be a compass designed to point South with the following poem: “This compass card that I bought for you has changed mother nature's pattern, instead of pointing “N” for North, it now points “S” for Saturn.” This new “magic compass greeting card” will supply the industry with a very special new line of cards, and the purchaser will receive a very unusual gift along with his card. An appropriate poem will accompany the card as is relevant to the direction that the compass is pointing. Of course, a variety of cards would be manufactured to cover the entire spectrum of holidays and birthdays etc.
In the last two examples, my invention finds usage as a very powerful promotional item and in the last example, a new line of greeting cards for the billion-dollar greeting card industry.
Another usage for my magic compass would be as a unique souvenir. Throughout the world, wherever travelers and tourists go, there are stores selling souvenirs, which are designed to serve as a memorable to the place that the tourist has visited. An example of this is a T-shirt with the name of the country or state printed on it. Sometimes we have seen pencils and other items carrying the name of the country or place that the tourist has visited. My invention will add a very unique souvenir item to these stores, which are located at highway stops, national parks or museums. For example; someone driving across country from the East coast to the West, would be very happy to by a souvenir called the “Wild Wild West” Compass. The store owner has provided a very unique souvenir which contains novelty by virtue of its “defying the laws of nature”, and by always pointing West. An appropriate picture or logo would be printed on the face of the compass.
Another purpose of my invention is to supply an aid for worshippers of specific religions, who during their prayers need to face in a specific direction. For example, those of the Jewish faith are required to face Jerusalem three times each day while reciting their prayers. People who are outside of their homes or away from their normal house of worship are often in doubt as to the correct direction to face while praying.
An invention that attempts to fulfill this need is found in IL patent 103,686 to Hadar and Erez (1992). This invention is not in the compass, but rather is an invention that is comprised of an ordinary north-pointing compass, unchanged and readily available in any store. This generic compass of known type is set into a box with numbers ranging from 0–360 degrees surrounding the compass in a circular manner, and representing the lines of longitude of the globe. On this box in which the compass is attached, an arrow is painted. The difficulty in using this device, is that each time one wishes to find their direction of prayer, they need to a) hold the box, b) wait for the visible north-pointing needle to find magnetic north, c) then, manually rotate this box so that the geographic place of their origin, which is expressed in degrees of longitude, is opposite this north-pointing magnetic needle. Then they must look at the stationary painted arrow to see in which direction it is pointing. Each time that this device is put down, one must start all over again with the above steps in order to find their desired destination.
Since the above invention utilizes a regular north-pointing compass, it needs to be set into a box, which will contain all of the longitudal numbers on one side, and the names of the geographic destinations on the lid. This creates a very bulky mechanism to be carried from place to place. Also, since the compass it contains is of known type, always pointing north, one must follow all of the above steps as mentioned above in order to find their direction of prayer. The process that is required to operate this device may prove difficult for those worshippers who are less educated, and also prove to be inconvenient to others who will need to complete this process each and every time the device is handled. Also, it would be a great advantage to have a compass that has the added novelty of being magical and always pointing automatically in the direction that is considered to be holy by the worshippers and their religion. This would reaffirm their belief that the place of their prayers is truly holy, since their compass is compelled to point there automatically. The above device can not do this since it only displays a regular north-pointing compass.
Other types of compass inventions have been proposed to help locate the direction of prayer for Moslems who needs to face towards Mecca. For example, DE patent 3412777A1 to Haag (1985), CH patent 607904 to Kamoo (1978), EP patent 60814 to Benhardt (1982), and CH patent 613832 to Mozer (1979).
In each of the above patents, we find various embellishments on the generic north-pointing compass as cited above in the IL patent. In each case, the compass box must be manually rotated in order to align the north-pointing magnetic needle with the name or symbol of the person's geographic location. Also, all of these devices cannot apply the added novelty of magic, since they all contain a visible working north-pointing compass. My previous patent application U.S. Ser. No. 09/845,834 filed (May 1, 2001) to Ashin, and, abandoned in (2002), is enclosed here in this application.
Four more devices, U.S. Pat. No. 5,546,310 to Ehdaie et al (1996), U.S. Pat. No. 5,721,713 to Bornand (1998), U.S. Pat. No. 6,185,157 to Farine (2001), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,790,477 to Hauke (1998) are also used to locate Mecca or some other predetermined geographic location but, they all work via electronic circuitry and some of them utilize antennas. Also, they do not have any appearance to the generic compass of known type and therefore they are unable to provide the novelty of magic with regard to a normal compass. In addition, orthodox worshippers of the Jewish faith are forbidden to operate and even to handle electronic devices on their Sabbath (Saturday) and Holidays.
All of the above compass devices heretofore known, which are meant to locate a predetermined geographic locality for prayer, suffer from a number of disadvantages:
(a) They are all, (excluding the electronic devices), normal generic magnetic north-pointing compasses, thereby unable to supply the added novelty and advantage that “magic” is taking place. For worshippers of various religions who need a device for finding their place of prayer, these devices lack the mystic novelty that their compass is defying the laws of nature by pointing “magically” in the direction of their prayers.
(b) Their usage proves to be difficult. Each time they are handled, one must first find magnetic north, and then they must rotate the entire device until the north pointing magnetic needle is lined up with a name of town, symbol or some other geographic designation. Once this has been completed, the user must then look at a painted or some other stationery pointer to see in which direction to face for their prayers.
(c) Each and every time that one wishes to use the above devices, one must go through the entire three step process of holding, re-aligning, and then looking for the painted stationery pointer as stated above.
(d) Some of the devices need to be attached to a box-like structure or to have other replaceable parts available for carrying. These parts are meant to be interchangeable and necessary to help the locating process from a wider variety of geographic locations. This creates a bulky item, which proves to be difficult and uncomfortable to carry.
(e) The remaining devices used for locating predetermined geographic locations are not compasses but rather compass-like devices that operate through the usage of electronic circuitry and antennas. Besides not having the added advantage of operating in a magical way as stated above, but being electric, they are forbidden to be used and even handled by orthodox worshippers of the Jewish faith on their Sabbath (Saturday) and Holidays.